Bloom

A Bloom of a thousand glowing jellyfish floating above the Black Rock City. As you ascend among the tentacles, imagine you are transported into an otherworldly abyss of colour and light.

From a distance this piece will appear to be one large jellyfish, forty foot tall and thirty feet across, with huge steel and fabric tentacles floating in the desert wind. Up close, one will realize Bloom is thousands of small jellyfish. The steps ascending twenty feet into the “belly of the jelly”, lead to a large platform viewing area. On the platform, the visitor will have a raised view of the playa, through the filtered light of thousands of handmade glass eyes.

Bloom is comprised of thousands of glass bowls rigged to a massive steel frame, and towering 40ft over the desert floor., It will be lit with 1,400 linear feet of LED lights, currently being programmed to bring the sculpture to life on the Playa.

Bloom is Peter’s most ambitious in a series of aquatic beasts created for the annual meeting of the weird and wonderful in the desert. As Fly By, and Octavius did, Bloom will bring another creature from the deep to the Playa. Looking up at the psychedelic sculpture in front of the night sky will challenge one’s sense of space and logic, as the giant Bloom of jellyfish appears to float among the stars. When visitors walk away from Bloom I hope that they will also have found reverence for not only monumental sculptural art, but for the vastness of the ocean itself.

"whether they are visual, audible, felt in our minds or any of the other ways we experience images, when we produce art we hope our work will evoke moments of extraordinary experience in others..." - Lisa Herman

We invite others to use this piece as an opportunity to spark conversations around the role art plays in our culture, how it can bring communities and ideas together, and challenge our understanding of our place on this planet.

Peter Hazel has been producing large-scale sculptures for Burning Man for four years, and is an Honorarium recipient for this year’s event. His ability to bring his ocean creatures to life, have delighted kids, old and young in Black Rock City and beyond. His work has also been featured at Reno SculptureFest, Napa Art Walk, and in a variety of other public art locations around the United States. Prior to producing large-scale art, Peter honed his project management skills as a construction contractor. He brings his professional organization experience to his projects to create well-produced, mindblowing, lasting monuments.

We have created this Hatchfund to raise awareness and funds for our outstanding needs to make Bloom a reality. We’ve been able to use a portion of our Honorarium grant to purchase much of the materials to get started with the remaining to be used for our on-playa heavy equipment and service needs. Our engineering support has been donated in-kind, and our community has been incredible with all kinds of support. But needless to say, we still have a long way to go financially to bring Bloom to life. Lighting, transportation, and the remaining materials are all top-of-the-list.

We were so grateful to have received an Honorarium grant from the Burning Man Arts committee for 1/3 of our entire budget, however this just got us started. Currently, Peter is pouring his own money into the project, and we still have so many other needs to fully pull this project together.

Here is a broad-stroke breakdown of our budget and needs:

Build Space:

$8,000

(over 5 months)

Structure:

- glass:

$15,000

- steel:

$20,000

- hardware:

$2,000

Lights and Power:

$21,000

Tools (kilns & tools):

$10,000

Transportation:

$6,500

Crew support on playa:

$1,000

(7 days)

Safety and LNT:

$400

Total:

$83,900

Donations through this Hatchfund campaign are tax deductible. We are also open to support, services, and materials in kind from our community. Please contact us directly if you are interested in discussing how you can help make this beautiful creation come to life.

We also want to thank all of our current sponsors, volunteers, and cheerleaders. Your support planted the seed and helped us get to this point and we kindly ask that you show your love for Bloom by sharing the link to this campaign with your friends and networks.